Immersive Visualization Technology in the Oil and Gas Industry

摘要

The rapidly expanding application of visualizationrntechnology has the potential to fundamentally change the wayrncompanies conduct business in the oil and gas industry. Thisrntechnology is already having a significant impact onrnefficiency, accuracy, completeness and integration inrnexploration and development. The last three years have seenrnthe growing acceptance of large collaborative and semiimmersivernvisualization systems in the upstream portion of thernoil and gas industry. As this technology matures, and as it isrnapplied broadly to both the upstream and downstreamrnbusiness, it will produce tremendous value through thernreduction of cycle times and risk.rnLarge display systems, including large flat screens, curvedrnscreen Visionaria and fully immersive CAVEs, hold thernpotential to revolutionize the way business is conducted.rnExperience using these large systems suggests that the cost ofrnthe visualization system is recovered after only a few monthsrnof operation. Once useful applications are available, thernutilization of the system rapidly expands to fill all of thernavailable time. Without head tracking (tracking the viewer’srnposition and updating the display appropriately), these largernsystems facilitate the integration of data, and the integrationrnand collaboration between members of interdisciplinary teams.rnSystems that incorporate head tracking hold the potentialrnto produce significantly greater value by allowing display andrninteraction to occur in a truly three-dimensional fashion. Anrnexample of this type of system and application is anrnimmersive drilling planner. It integrates all of the geophysicalrnand geological information in the 3-D tracked visual display,rnand incorporates the algorithms and input data necessary torngenerate engineered drillable well paths.